Bitcoin tops $61,000, ends best month of 2020

Crypto prices rose on Thursday as Bitcoin and Ether headed for their strongest month in more than three years.

Bitcoin it was last higher by more than 1% at $61,150.88 on the last day of February, according to Coin Metrics. It jumped to $64,000 at one point on Wednesday before a wave of long liquidations triggered a pullback to around $60,000. Ether advanced 3% to $3,382.43 on Thursday.

Both coins shot higher in February after finishing high in January. Bitcoin is now up 42% for the month, marking its sixth straight month of gains – its best performance since December 2020. Ether advanced more than 47%, also heading for its sixth straight month up and its best month of July 2022

The month was a triumph for Bitcoin ETFs, which saw a record $677 million in daily net inflows on Wednesday alone for the third straight day of inflows above $500 million. Initially, outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin ETF (GBTC), which had a head start on its rivals since its days as Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, weighed on the price of Bitcoin. These outflows have now declined.

Investors attribute February’s explosive gains to bitcoin’s supply and demand dynamics. Silvia Jablonski, CEO and Chief Investment Officer at Defiance ETF, pointed specifically to the new ETFs and the upcoming Bitcoin halving.

“We saw over $2 billion going into the various bitcoin ETFs, so there was a need to access more supply of bitcoin to build those ETFs and that ended up driving prices higher especially in the near term,” she said .

“The second reason why you might get some additional price momentum in the last few days is the upcoming halving,” she added. “Historically, halvings have driven bitcoin prices higher … past performance is not indicative of future performance, but I think there is this belief that the halving process will lead to the same level of appreciation.”

Halving is a mandate in the Bitcoin code to cut the reward for mining Bitcoin in half to reduce the supply of Bitcoin every few years and create a scarcity effect. The next one is expected this April.

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